Jobs

The Stardust-R Network Partners will be accepting applications from eligible candidates for 15 Early Stage Researcher positions.

Applicants are required to complete an application form including the name of three referees who will be contacted before interview without permission, unless you indicate that you would prefer otherwise. Applicants should also submit a Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter as a single document detailing the knowledge, skills and experience you think make you the right candidate for the job together with copies of transcripts and certificates in English and two reference letters. A template CV is available below:

Applicants should confirm within their covering letter the length of time they have resided in the host country in the last three years before 1 October 2019. Applicants should also complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.

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Please note: Each host institution has its own specific application procedures.

ESR1 - Vacancy Information

Title: Intelligent Uncertainty Treatment in Orbital Mechanics

New Application Deadline: 15 April 2019

This work relates to the development of methods and tools for uncertainty quantification and optimal control under uncertainty, the development of an AI-based tool in support of space traffic management and future satellite operations, the development of solutions to increase the resilience of the space environment, the definition of optimal strategies for collision avoidance and disposal of space debris and the deflection of asteroids, the improvement of our prediction capabilities and better manage high risk rare events. The successful applicant will work in a multi-disciplinary team with members of the Department and their partners in the STARDUST-R Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Training Network.

Applicants are required to complete an application form including the name of three referees who will be contacted before interview without permission, unless you indicate that you would prefer otherwise. Applicants should also submit a Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter as a single document detailing the knowledge, skills and experience you think make you the right candidate for the job together with copies of transcripts and certificates in English and two reference letters. A template CV is available below:

Applicants should confirm within their covering letter the length of time they have resided in the host country in the last three years before 1 October 2019. Applicants should also complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.

This work relates to the development of methods and tools for the design and uncertainty quantification of space objects that are due to completely demise during re-entry. The work associated to this post will investigate both the physics of the re-entry process, including possible fragmentations, and the required computational tools to estimate the footprint of the fragments and the probability of a ground impact. The successful applicant will work in a multi-disciplinary team with members of the Department and their partners in the STARDUST-R Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Training Network.

Applicants are required to complete an application form including the name of three referees who will be contacted before interview without permission, unless you indicate that you would prefer otherwise. Applicants should also submit a Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter as a single document detailing the knowledge, skills and experience you think make you the right candidate for the job together with copies of transcripts and certificates in English and two reference letters. A template CV is available below:

Applicants should confirm within their covering letter the length of time they have resided in the host country in the last three years before 1 October 2019. Applicants should also complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.

ESR3 - Vacancy Information

Title: Dynamics of space debris within different orbital elements regions

ESR3 will be working with Partner Università Degli Studi Di Roma Tor Vergata

JOB DESCRIPTION

a) Research: Analysis of lunisolar resonances, including the effect of solar radiation pressure; investigation of highly eccentric objects (HEO), which might be affected by conservative and dissipative forces along their orbits, according to the altitude as the eccentricity varies; study of highly inclined objects.
b) Training: Attendance of schools and training events; Participate in planned secondments; Collaboration with other ESRs through the Working Groups,
c) Outreach activities: i) Communication - to communicate through multiple social media platforms; ii) Public Awareness - to participate in the campaigns managed by the Stardust-R network; iii) Education Outreach - to collaborate and engage directly with schools to inspire pupils to take Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects to a higher education level.

MSCA ELIGIBILITY CRITERION: At the time of appointment applicants should have no more than 4 years experience after graduation and should not have resided in Italy for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately before the appointment.
REQUIREMENTS: All qualified candidates irrespective of gender or nationality are welcome to apply as long as the following conditions have been fulfilled:

A successful candidate must hold (or expect to obtain) a Master degree in Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Engineering or Computer Science
Knowledge of a computer language or algebraic manipulator (C, Fortran, MATLAB, Mathematica) is desirable
A successful candidate should have good oral and written communication skills in English
APPLICATIONS: Interested applicants should send by e-mail (celletti@mat.uniroma2.it as well as to info@stardust-network.eu) the following documents:
a) curriculum vitae (CV) following the template available at http://www.stardust-network.eu/about/jobs/ ;
b) transcripts and certificates;
c) two letters of reference to be sent to celletti@mat.uniroma2.it;
d) cover letter explaining their motivation, research interests and the ranked preference for posts.

BENEFITS: The selected ESR will be recruited on a fixed term staff contract with salary, having the opportunity to be enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
OPEN FOR INTERNATIONAL ESR: Yes
SELECTION: The selection will be on the basis of the CV and an interview (possibly via skype); the committee might decide to propose a research project as an exercise to be performed within a limited amount of time. Shortlisted candidates will be informed.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Prof. Alessandra Celletti (celletti@mat.uniroma2.it) or info@stardustnetwork.eu

ESR4 will be working with Partner Università Degli Studi Di Roma Tor Vergata

JOB DESCRIPTION

a) Research: Characterization of the populations of space debris by using techniques of perturbation theory (normal forms); study how orbit determination uncertainty propagates for control and mitigation of space debris; implement perturbation theory to extend, to the fully non-linear regime, linear variational methods currently used for determination of the growth in time of separation between nearby orbits.
b) Training: Attendance of schools and training events; Participate in planned secondments; Collaboration with other ESRs through the Working Groups,
c) Outreach activities: i) Communication - to communicate through multiple social media platforms; ii) Public Awareness - to participate in the campaigns managed by the Stardust-R network; iii) Education Outreach - to collaborate and engage directly with schools to inspire pupils to take Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects to a higher education level.

MSCA ELIGIBILITY CRITERION: At the time of appointment applicants should have no more than 4 years experience after graduation and should not have resided in Italy for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately before the appointment.
REQUIREMENTS: All qualified candidates irrespective of gender or nationality are welcome to apply as long as the following conditions have been fulfilled:

A successful candidate must hold (or expect to obtain) a Master degree in Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Engineering or Computer Science
Knowledge of a computer language or algebraic manipulator (C, Fortran, MATLAB, Mathematica) is desirable
A successful candidate should have good oral and written communication skills in English
APPLICATIONS: Interested applicants should send by e-mail (celletti@mat.uniroma2.it as well as to info@stardust-network.eu) the following documents:
a) curriculum vitae (CV) following the template available at http://www.stardust-network.eu/about/jobs/ ;
b) transcripts and certificates;
c) two letters of reference to be sent to celletti@mat.uniroma2.it;
d) cover letter explaining their motivation, research interests and the ranked preference for posts.

BENEFITS: The selected ESR will be recruited on a fixed term staff contract with salary, having the opportunity to be enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
OPEN FOR INTERNATIONAL ESR: Yes
SELECTION: The selection will be on the basis of the CV and an interview (possibly via skype); the committee might decide to propose a research project as an exercise to be performed within a limited amount of time. Shortlisted candidates will be informed.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Prof. Alessandra Celletti (celletti@mat.uniroma2.it) or info@stardustnetwork.eu

ESR5 - Vacancy Information

Title: Resonant long term dynamics and the chaotic diffusion of space debris

As part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA), STARDUST-R, the Research Committee of the Academy of Athens (AA) offers a fully funded three-year ESR position to be hosted under the supervision of researchers at the Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics (RCAAM) of the Academy of Athens on the following subject:

Resonant long term dynamics and the chaotic diffusion of space debris

Potential applicants may also be interested in other ESR positions offered within the network STARDUST-R. More information is available at http://www.stardust-network.eu/about/jobs/
STARDUST-R project is funded by the European Union in the framework of the HORIZON 2020 programme for Research and Innovation and has a total duration of 4 years. It is implemented by an international consortium of 13 organisations including the university of Strathclyde as coordinator and the Academy of Athens / Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics (RCAAM) as one of the beneficiaries. The STARDUST-R project is an Innovative Training Network (ITN) under the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions programme (MSCA).

REQUIREMENTS: All qualified candidates irrespective of gender or nationality are welcome to apply as long as the following conditions have been fulfilled:

A successful candidate must hold a Master degree in Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Engineering or Computer Science;
Knowledge of a computer language or algebraic manipulator (C, Java, Fortran, MATLAB, Mathematica) is desirable;
A successful candidate should have good oral and written communication skills in English;
ADDITIONAL MSCA ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

At the time of appointment applicants:

should have no more than 4 years’ research experience after graduation;
should have not resided in Greece for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately before the appointment;
should not be holders of a PhD degree.
APPLICATIONS: Interested applicants should send by e-mail to cefthim@academyofathens.gr, c/o Dr. Christos Efthymiopoulos, with a c.c. to info@stardust-network.eu, the following documents in English:

b) transcripts and certificates proving the qualifications and experience of the candidate;

c) two letters of reference;

d) cover letter explaining their motivation and research interests. Applicants should also state in their cover letter whether they apply to other ESR positions within the STARDUST-R network, besides AA, including a number-ranked preference list for these posts.

ESR6 will be working with Partner Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași.

More information is available at http://www.stardust-network.eu/about/jobs/
MSCA ELIGIBILITY CRITERION: At the time of appointment applicants should have no more than 4 years’ experience after graduation and should not have resided in Romania for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately before the appointment;
REQUIREMENTS: All qualified candidates irrespective of gender or nationality are welcome to apply as long as the following conditions have been fulfilled:

A successful candidate must hold (or expect to obtain) a Master degree in Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Engineering or Computer Science;
Knowledge of a computer language or algebraic manipulator (C, Java, Fortran, MATLAB, Mathematica) is desirable;
A successful candidate should have good oral and written communication skills in English;
APPLICATIONS: Interested applicants should send by e-mail (cgales@uaic.ro as well as to info@stardust-network.eu) the following documents:
a) curriculum vitae (CV) following the template available at http://www.stardust-network.eu/about/jobs/ ;
b) transcripts and certificates;
c) two letters of reference;
d) cover letter explaining their motivation, research interests and the ranked preference for posts.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31.03.2019
ENVISAGED JOB STARTING DATE : October 2019
BENEFITS: The selected ESR will be recruited on a fixed term staff contract with salary, having the opportunity to be enrolled in a doctoral program at UAIC.
SELECTION: The selection will be on the basis of the CV and an interview (possibly via skype); the committee might decide to propose a research project as an exercise to be performed within a limited amount of time. Shortlisted candidates will be informed.
OPEN FOR INTERNATIONAL ESR: Yes
CONTACT INFORMATION: Assoc. Prof. Catalin Gales (cgales@uaic.ro) or info@stardust-network.eu
JOB DESCRIPTION:
a) Research: Design disposal orbits through dynamical studies based on the determination of regular and chaotic regions in the parameter space and orbital coordinates; Analyse the dynamics associated to objects with high area-to-mass ratio; Study the dynamics of space debris around asteroids as a generalization of the analysis around the Earth to objects with highly irregular shapes; Disseminate the results obtained;
b) Training: Attendance of schools and training events; Participate in planned secondments; Collaboration with other ESR through the Working Groups,
c) Outreach activities: i) Communication - to communicate through multiple social media platforms; ii) Public Awareness - to participate in the campaigns managed by the Stardust-R network; iii) Education Outreach - to collaborate and engage directly with schools to inspire pupils to take Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects to a higher education level.

Job Description
The post of each Early Stage Researchers is for 36 months. It will consists of the following activities:
a) Research: study when a patched integrable dynamics is representative of a more complex one; study how linked integrable solutions can be used in orbit determination; search for a new definition of region of influence of the Earth by studying patching techniques in the restricted three body problem.
b) Training: attendance of schools and training events; participation in planned secondments; collaboration with other ESRs through Working Groups.
c) Outreach: i) communication through multiple social media platforms; ii) participation in the campaigns managed by the Stardust-R network; iii) education outreach, addressed to school students.

MSCA eligibility criterion
The ESRs must, at the date of recruitment by the beneficiary, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.
Moreover, they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date.

curriculum vitae (CV) in English, following the template available at http://www.stardust-network.eu/about/jobs/;
transcripts and certificates;
two letters of reference;
a cover letter explaining their motivation and research interests.
Applicants to Stardust-R ESR positions can apply for a maximum of 2 different posts, with each post ranked in terms of preference.

Requirements

Educational and/or Professional Qualifications: master degree in Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy or Aerospace Engineering;
Experience and Training: knowledge of fundamentals of Celestial Mechanics;
Skills: programming with scientific software, good knowledge of English language.

Selection
The candidates will be first shortlisted on the basis of their CV, then by interviews (via Skype, or similar). The last phase of the selection will possibly be done at UniPi. In that case travel and living expenses will be covered by UniPi.

Benefits
The ESR fellows will be employed according to the regulations of the MSCA Innovative Training Networks and the employment conditions of UniPi. They will also have the opportunity to be enrolled in the Mathematics
doctoral program at UniPi.

Job Description
The post of each Early Stage Researchers is for 36 months. It will consists of the following activities:
a) Research: apply some of the new initial orbit determination (IOD) methods and create a complete OD pipeline which is able to deal with very large database of observations; include in the existing IOD methods some perturbations, e.g., planetary close approaches for asteroids, Earth oblateness
for debris.
b) Training: attendance of schools and training events; participation in planned secondments; collaboration with other ESRs through Working Groups.
c) Outreach: i) communication through multiple social media platforms; ii) participation in the campaigns managed by the Stardust-R network; iii) education outreach, addressed to school students.

MSCA eligibility criterion
The ESRs must, at the date of recruitment by the beneficiary, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.
Moreover, they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date.

curriculum vitae (CV) in English, following the template available at http://www.stardust-network.eu/about/jobs/;
transcripts and certificates;
two letters of reference;
a cover letter explaining their motivation and research interests.
Applicants to Stardust-R ESR positions can apply for a maximum of 2 different posts, with each post ranked in terms of preference.

Requirements

Educational and/or Professional Qualifications: master degree in Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy or Aerospace Engineering;
Experience and Training: knowledge of fundamentals of Celestial Mechanics;
Skills: programming with scientific software, good knowledge of English language.
Selection
The candidates will be first shortlisted on the basis of their CV, then by interviews (via Skype, or similar). The last phase of the selection will possibly be done at UniPi. In that case travel and living expenses will be covered by UniPi.

Benefits
The ESR fellows will be employed according to the regulations of the MSCA Innovative Training Networks and the employment conditions of UniPi. They will also have the opportunity to be enrolled in the Mathematics
doctoral program at UniPi.

Job Description:
As a part of a pan-European research project, the STARDUST-Reloaded, founded by the Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Union, the Department of Astronomy of the University of Belgrade, offers a fully funded 3-year PhD research position in asteroidal science. The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Dr Bojan Novaković.

Our current knowledge of the orbital and size distribution of a very small asteroids, down to few tens of meters in size may not be fully appropriate. Some available estimations are based only on indirect evidence, such as disruption rate of main belt asteroids. The asteroid belt is also subject to evolutionary processes, but so far, no model has included all the important processes affecting asteroid evolution. Besides, new models still have to be successfully tested against known constraints.

The successful candidate will focus on project aiming to better understand the orbital and size distribution of small asteroids, below 100 meters in size. To achieve project's goals the candidate should study dynamical and collisional evolution of asteroids in this size range, combine this in a single self-consistent model, and test the model against all available constraints.

In addition, the candidate will work on characterization of near Earth asteroids and should define a criticality index that provides a measure of how easy the asteroid is to deflect with a given deflection method, and how interesting the asteroid is to explore and to exploit.

The successful candidate will undertake two secondments during the project. The first one will take place at the University of Pisa to work with Prof. Giovanni Federico Gronchi, and the second one will be at the European Space Agency to work with Dr. Detlef Koschny. Each secondment is foreseen to last 3 months. The candidate will be also expected to attend all schools and training events organized within the Stardust-Reloaded ITN. A participation in outreach activities and collaboration with other ESRs will be a part of duties.

Requirements:

All qualified candidates irrespective of gender or nationality are welcome to apply as long as the following conditions have been fulfilled:

Applicants should hold (or expect to obtain soon) a Masters degree in Astronomy, Planetary Science, Physics, Mathematics or related fields.
Applicants should have good oral and written communication skills in English.
Applicants should have no more than 4 years of experience after graduation.
Applicants should not have resided or performed their main activity in Serbia for more than 12 months in the 3 year period immediately prior to the starting date.
Applicants should have the minimum grade average of 8.0 out of 10.
Candidates with previous experience in any asteroid-related projects are particularly encouraged to apply. Knowledge of computer programming (Fortran, C, Python, Bash scripting) and numerical modeling would be an important advantage.

The University pursues a non-discriminatory employment policy and values equal opportunities, as well as diversity. The University lays special emphasis on increasing the number of women in academic positions. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female applicants.

How To Apply:

Interested candidates should send a curriculum vitae (CV), transcripts of their university grades and a cover letter explaining their motivation and research interests to Dr. Bojan Novaković, by e-mail bojan@matf.bg.ac.rs (cc to info@stardust-network.eu). They should also arrange for two letters of reference to be sent to the same email address. Please prepare your CV using this template.

Recruitment process:

After the closing date, all applications will be reviewed and shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview, based on the requirements of the job outlined above.
Shortlisted candidates will then receive an email invitation outlining the format of the interview.
We will also ask you to undertake a task or test as part of the interview process. Details will be provided along with the email invitation for the interview.
Benefits:

The successful candidate will be employed according to the regulations of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Initial Training Networks (ITN) and the employment conditions of the University of Belgrade. The salary will be about € 2,800.00 gross per month, plus a family allowance that will be paid should the researcher have family. A respective benefits package and a research budget for travel and other expenses will be also provided.

The candidate will work full-time in the field of space robotics towards the goal of developing and experimentally testing control algorithms for an autonomous free-floating manipulator system to capture and manipulate both non-cooperative and cooperative targets.

The duration of employment is 3 years and during that time the candidate will be offered the possibility to be enrolled in the Ph.D. programme at the University of Bremen under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Frank Kirchner.

Your tasks:

The candidate should, at the date of recruitment, be in the first 4 years of his/her research career and not have a doctoral degree. Moreover, the candidate should not have resided in Germany for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date (and not have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in it) - unless as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.

The Stardust Reloaded project is a European research project funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks (ITN) action of the European Union Horizon 2020 (H2020) program. The project addresses the growing need for a sustainable exploitation of space, the resilience of the space environment, the threat and opportunities coming from asteroids and the compelling need for properly trained specialists who can tackle these issues.

Stardust-R comprises 20 partners, including the European, French and German aerospace agencies that will support 15 early-stage career researchers (ESRs). The ESRs will be trained in mathematics, physics, computer science, robotics and aerospace engineering to provide effective solutions to make the space environment resilient, space exploitation sustainable learn more about minor bodies and ultimately protect Earth and our space assets. The envisioned forms of training are: training through research, Project Working Groups, tutorials and webinars, secondments, training schools, workshops, and a design challenge.

The research programme is divided in 8 work packages (WPs) that address existing or emerging problems with a huge impact on the future of our planet, the space environment and the space sector, and is driven by two key areas of application: Space Traffic Management (STM) and the Exploration, Exploitation of Minor Bodies (EEM). Each WP is developed by at least one ESR and all will contribute to one of the two above mentioned topics. The involvement of each ESR in multiple WPs and the concurrent work of multiple ESRs will promote collaborations, interdisciplinarity and cross-sectorial activities with the precise goal to integrate the enabling technologies developed in individual WPs into STM and EEM WPs.

The ESR at DFKI will be more dedicated to STM and will develop robotic technologies to transform space debris into a commercial opportunity, as per the H2020/ESA PERASPERA programme, via on-orbit servicing. Moreover, the ESR is expected to perform a 6 months secondment at the Automation & Robotics group of ESTEC-ESA, under the supervision of the head of the group, Mr. Gianfranco Visentin.

Type of employment
Full-time
Your mission:
The German Space Operations Center (GSOC) provides flight dynamics support for space missions and carries out research and development projects related to spaceborne GNSS-based navigation, spacecraft rendezvous and docking, onboard real-time data processing and space situational awareness.
Within the “Space Traffic Management and the Resilient Space Environment” project of the Stardust Reloaded (Stardust-R) European Training Network (ETN) at DLR there is an open position with a start date in October 2019 for an Early Stage Researcher (m/f) – Stardust-R - ESR11
The candidate will work full-time in the field of spaceborne close-proximity navigation towards the goal of developing an embedded navigation system for robust relative state estimation.
The duration of employment is 3 years and during that time the candidate will be offered the possibility to be enrolled a Ph.D. programme.

Your tasks:

• Develop algorithms for 3D-reconstruction of a spacecraft.

• Implement robust and accurate methods for 6D pose estimation.

• Fuse several sensors to improve the system performance and robustness.

• Test and validate the algorithms using simulations and experimental facilities.

• Participate in outreach activities of the Network such as public seminars, workshops, etc.

• Master’s degree (or comparable academic degree) in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or a related field (earned at the date of recruitment).

• Very strong C/C++ programming skills.

• Excellent mathematical background.

• Strong background in aerospace and estimation theory.

• Experience with optical sensors and methods for image processing.

• Proficiency in spoken and written English. Basic German language skills are a plus.

We are looking forward for a talented and highly motivated candidate. He/she should have an independent and well-structured working style but has to be able to work in teams as well.

The candidate should, at the date of recruitment, be in the first 4 years of his/her research career and not have a doctoral degree. Moreover, the candidate should not have resided in Germany for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date (and not have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in it) - unless as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.

The Stardust Reloaded project is a European research project funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks (ITN) action of the European Union Horizon 2020 (H2020) program. Stardust-R comprises 20 partners, including the European, French and German aerospace agencies that will support 15 early-stage career researchers (ESRs).

Within the STARDUST-R Marie Curie Research Training Network, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher position (ESR) is available for a fixed term period of three years to work on a project entitled “ Advanced Machine Learning and Computational techniques for Space Traffic Management ”. The main objectives of this project are:

● To develop methodologies to estimate the risk of the execution of collision avoidance manoeuvres by fusing simulated and historical scenarios.

● To develop methods to fuse multiple sources of information, with different levels of fidelity and reliability.

● To apply these methodologies to support ground operators.

● To develop visualisation and simulation environments to assess the performance of these methods.

The successful applicant will work in a multi-disciplinary team of computer scientists in Madrid, and their partners in the STARDUST-R Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Training Network. STARDUST-R ( http://www.stardust-network.eu/) is a H2020 Marie Curie ITN-ETN project, coordinated by Strathclyde University (UK), involving a total of 22 partners from the EU, US and Japan, including (among others) agencies, large companies and research institutions such as ESA, CNES, DLR, Airbus DS. The high-level objective of this project is to address the growing need for a sustainable exploration of space, the resilience of the space environment, the threats and opportunities coming from asteroids and comets and the compelling need for properly trained specialists who can tackle these issues.

Benefits

The duration of employment is 3 years and during that time the candidate will be offered the possibility to be enrolled in the Ph.D. programme under the supervision of Dr. David Camacho.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants will be required to meet the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher eligibility criteria. In particular, at the time of appointment they should be within the first four years of their research career, have not been awarded a doctoral degree, and should not have resided in the host country (Spain) for more than 12 months in the last three years immediately before the appointment. Researchers are normally required to undertake transnational mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) when taking up the appointment. For a more detailed summary of the eligibility criteria see http://www.stardust-network.eu/

Selection process
If you are interested in this position please prepare the following documentation:

● a curriculum vitae in English (use this template to prepare it).

● an application letter, stating clearly your motivation, qualifications and ranked preference for a maximum of 2 ESR positions within the Stardust-R project.

● two letters of reference (preferably sent directly by referees)

● copies of all relevant academic transcripts and certificates in English and send it by

All qualified candidates irrespective of gender or nationality are welcome to apply as long as they meet the following conditions:

● Academic degree in Aerospace Engineering or a related field ( earned at the date of recruitment ).

● Background in machine learning, computational intelligence and/or data mining. A master’s degree or any other official qualification on these topics will be a plus.

● Very strong programming skills, in languages such as R, Python, Java or C++.

Excellent spoken and written command of English is required, and basic Spanish language skills are a plus. We are looking forward for a talented and highly motivated candidate.
He/she should have an independent and well-structured working style, but has to be able to work in teams as well.

Specific Requirements

Applicants will be required to meet the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher eligibility criteria. In particular, at the time of appointment they should be within the first four years of their research career, have not been awarded a doctoral degree, and should not have resided in the host country (Spain) for more than 12 months in the last three years immediately before the appointment. Researchers are normally required to undertake transnational mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) when taking up the appointment. For a more detailed summary of the eligibility criteria see http://www.stardust-network.eu/

Additional comments

The successful candidate will undertake two secondments during the project. The first one will take place at the University of Strathclyde, supervised by with Dr. Annalisa Riccardi, to work on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for collision avoidance manoeuvres, and the second one will be at the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) to work with Mr Juan-Carlos Dolado Perez, testing the algorithms developed. Each secondment is foreseen to last 3 months. The candidate will be also expected to attend all schools and training events organized within the Stardust-Reloaded ITN. A participation in outreach activities and collaboration with other ESRs will be a part of duties.

The Department of Aerospace Science and Technology at Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, is hiring one Early Stage Researcher (ESR13) as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Innovative Training Network (ITN) Stardust-R.

Job Description

Description: Within Stardust-R, the ESR will cover the activities involving autonomous Guidance, Navigation, and Control of low-resources systems for exploration and exploitation of small bodies.
The scenario considers exploration and required prospection in view of a possible exploitation achieved through specific missions and related science realised with interplanetary CubeSats.
Autonomous deep-space and close proximity navigation, as well as autonomous orbit guidance and control will be the fundamental areas of research. The activities foresee the design and execution of hardware-in-the-loop experiments using breadboards.

Objectives:

To develop models for the simulation of orbit-attitude motion of under-actuated space systems;

To assess operations, autonomy, and navigation accuracy of small satellites in the proximity of small bodies;

Study cases:

1) stand-alone, deep-space CubeSat to a minor body,

2) CubeSat released in situ by a mothership about a minor body.

Requirements:

All qualified candidates irrespective of gender or nationality are welcome to apply as long as the following conditions are fulfilled. A successful candidate must
1) hold a Master degree in Engineering, or equivalently Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy;
2) master at least one computing language (C, Fortran, Matlab, Python);
3) be familiar with hardware-in-the-loop simulation;
4) have excellent written and oral communication skills.

MSCA eligibility criterion:

At the time of appointment applicants should have no more than 4 years experience after graduation and should not have resided in Italy for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately before the appointment.

Applications: Interested applicants must send to francesco.topputo@polimi.it (cc info@stardustnetwork.eu):
a) CV following the template available at this link;
b) transcripts and certificates;
c) two letters of reference (preferably sent directly from the referees); d) cover letter explaining their motivation and research interests.

Benefits:

The selected ESR will be recruited on a fixed term staff contract with salary, having the opportunity to be enrolled in the PhD program in Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Milano.

Selection:

The selection will be on the basis of the CV and an interview (possibly via Skype); the committee might decide to propose a research project as an exercise to be performed within a limited amount of time. Shortlisted candidates will be informed.

Within the STARDUST-R Marie Curie Research Training Network, a Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher position is available at DEIMOS Space to work on a project entitled “Intelligent Navigation and Control System for Minor Celestial Body Descent and Ascent”.

The candidate will be hired by the “Mission Analysis and Navigation” division at DEIMOS, and will work full-time in the field of interplanetary mission navigation to develop an adaptive autonomous system for minor bodies landing. The duration of employment is 3 years, starting on November the 1st 2019.

During the course of the research the candidate will be offered the possibility to be enrolled in the Ph.D. programme at the Universidad Carlos III under the supervision of Prof. Manuel Sanjurjo. Moreover the ESR will receive training within the institutions participating to the network and will perform 2 secondments of 3 months duration each, respectively at Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and DFKI (Germany).

The gross annual salary will be 32.000€ including relocation; additional allowances are available for candidates with family.

Applicants will be required to meet the Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher eligibility criteria. In particular, at the time of appointment applicants should have no more than 4 years’ experience after graduation and should not have resided in the host country for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately before the appointment.

The Stardust Reloaded project is a European research project funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks (ITN) action of the European Union Horizon 2020 (H2020) program. The project addresses the growing need for a sustainable exploitation of space, the resilience of the space environment, the threat and opportunities coming from asteroids and the compelling need for properly trained specialists who can tackle these issues.

Stardust-R comprises 20 partners, including the European, French and German aerospace agencies that will support 15 early-stage career researchers (ESRs). The ESRs will be trained in mathematics, physics, computer science, robotics and aerospace engineering to provide effective solutions to make the space environment resilient, space exploitation sustainable learn more about minor bodies and ultimately protect Earth and our space assets.

The envisioned forms of training are: training through research, Project Working Groups, tutorials and webinars, secondments, training schools, workshops, and a design challenge.

The faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology is one of the world's largest faculties devoted entirely to aerospace engineering. In the Netherlands it is the only research and education institute directly related to the aerospace engineering sector. It covers the whole spectrum of aerospace engineering subjects. In aeronautics, the faculty covers subjects ranging from aerodynamics and flight propulsion to structures and materials and from control and simulation to air transport and operations. In astronautics, topics include astrodynamics, space missions and space systems engineering. The faculty has around 2,700 BSc and MSc students, 225 PhD candidates and 27 professors supported by scientific staff.
The faculty's mission is to be the best Aerospace Engineering faculty in the world, inspiring and educating students through modern education techniques and enabling staff to perform ambitious research of the highest quality for the future of aerospace. The working atmosphere at the faculty is friendly, open-minded and dedicated.

The Department of Space Engineering of TU Delft provides education and research to advance the frontiers of space systems and missions, spaceflight and planetary science for the benefit of society. The Department has two research groups: Astrodynamics and Space Missions; Space Systems Engineering. It runs an integrated research program comprising miniaturization, distributed space systems, mission analysis and orbits, space propulsion, ascent & re-entry, planetary exploration. Hyperion Technologies BV is a SME specialized in the development of components, mainly for small satellites, including miniaturized star trackers, sun sensors and propulsion systems. Hyperion premises include a laboratory space, where in-house development of mechanics, software and electronics are carried out.

Job description

Stardust-R (http://www.stardust-network.eu) is a H2020 Marie Curie ITN-ETN project, coordinated by Strathclyde University (UK), involving a total of 22 partners from the EU, US and Japan, including (among others) agencies, large companies and research institutions such as ESA, CNES, DLR, Airbus DS. The high-level objective of this project is to address the growing need for a sustainable exploration of space, the resilience of the space environment, the threats and opportunities coming from asteroids and comets and the compelling need for properly trained specialists who can tackle these issues.

Within this project, TU Delft is involved in collaboration with Hyperion BV to jointly host a PhD candidate. The project will kick off in January 2019 and the expected starting date for the PhD is October 2019.

The TU Delft/Hyperion PhD research will mainly focus on: assessing the applicability of available miniaturized star trackers to small satellite autonomous navigation algorithms; studying the orbit/trajectory control capabilities of deep-space CubeSats equipped with micro-propulsion; trade-off existing micro-propulsion options and identify the most promising ones for orbit/trajectory control of deep-space CubeSats; design a complete navigation/AOCS subsystem for deep-space CubeSats and verify it with Hardware-in-the-loop testing.

Mandatory duties of the PhD candidate will include a 3-months secondment at Politecnico di Milano (Italy) at the end of the second year, plus all other activities planned within the project (training events, outreach activities, collaboration with other researchers, etc.)

Requirements

Applicants should have a Master degree from a renowned institution in mechanical, aerospace or energy engineering, or another technical area deemed relevant for the proposed research. Strong motivation, creativity, and proactivity are required. Good interpersonal communication skills are necessary in order to properly integrate into the fairly large, diverse and international team. Applicants must be fluent in English (English supervision).

In compliance to the H2020 requirements for Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions, the applicant shall be a postgraduate researcher in the first four full-time equivalent years of research training activity, and must not have resided in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the last 3 years.

Conditions of employment

The PhD candidate will work within the European Stardust-R project and be appointed at two partners in this program for a total period of four years. After the first year an evaluation will take place to review the doctoral candidate’s progress, to assess whether the candidate is likely to complete the Doctoral Programme successfully.

Hyperion BV will formally appoint the PhD candidate in the 1st and 2nd year of the PhD, and fully pay his/her salary. However, the selection procedure and related formalities such as determination of the employment conditions, will be under the responsibility of TU Delft and will be conducted in accordance with the rules and procedures defined by the Stardust-R consortium.

During these two years, the candidate will also have a desk at TU Delft, spending on average 1 day/week there with a guest status. He/she will enroll in the Graduate School and meet all the related formalities (including orange light/go-no go meetings and the Doctoral Education program).

The salary indication concerns gross amounts. In addition, you are entitled to an 8% vacation allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. The salary is determined in accordance with the classification guidelines of TU Delft. The living allowance mentioned in the EC documentation (the Work Programme for instance) include the provisions for all compulsory deductions under national applicable legislation. That means that the living allowance is not just your gross salary, but additionally includes the compulsory employers’ contributions.

TU Delft will formally appoint the candidate in the 3rd and 4th year, and fully pay his/her salary in this period. During these two years, the candidate will also have a desk at Hyperion BV and spend on average 1 day/week there with a guest status.

To apply, please send an application letter explaining the motivation to this position, a curriculum vite in English, two letters of recommendation from two different referees. Transcripts of BSc and MSc degrees, copies of BSc and MSc diplomas, proof of language skills if applicable, by March 31 2019 to Ms. Debby van der Sande, D.M.S.vanderSande@tudelft.nl.